Page 24 of A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy

His voice grew darker. “Sophie, if you don’t come with me willingly, I’m going to scoop you up myself and take you outside. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want?—”

“Thenleave,” she pleaded quietly. She needed to get her head on straight. She needed to figure out if this was the path she wanted to take. Right now, there was so much going on with the future of her blog and volunteering at the shelter. She hadn’t wanted to date anyone in the first place. In hindsight it had been a relief Duke had felt the same on their first date.

He stopped, his arm dropping to his side. She could practically feel the pain coming off of him in waves.

Sophie pushed through the guilt and the latent desire she had to be with him. “You should probably go before Pippa comes out and tries to play matchmaker again. There’s a reason we didn’t work on that first date. You can’t deny that.”

For a moment she thought he might do as she asked. He hesitated where he stood, glanced over his shoulder briefly then he faced her and shook his head. “No.”

“No?” she stammered. “What do you mean,no?” Sophie fidgeted, all the arguments in her head attempting to yell louder than the next. “Whatever you’re doing here?—”

“What I’m doing is telling you I have feelings for you.”

She snapped her mouth shut and every single one of those voices in her head went silent.”

Duke motioned to the exit behind him. “Now, will you please come with me? I will never forgive myself if something happened to you.” There was something about the tone of his voice that sent a shiver racing down her spine. “Sophie… please.”

At that moment the structure shuddered as a gust of wind rustled outside.

Sophie gasped and scurried forward, brushing past Duke to the safety beneath the stars. But the second she was outside, she turned to face him. Chiseled features were highlighted by the moon overhead. His dark eyes never left her face as he took several steps to close the distance between them.

Her whole body was on edge. This was happening. It was really happening and there was nothing she could do about it. Like the avalanches back home in the mountains, sometimes all it took was a small pebble landing in just the right spot to loosen the snow from the ledges.

And she was terrified. Before she had a chance to speak, he took both of her hands in his grasp. “I know this is going to sound crazy. You’re probably not going to believe me. Heck, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. But I have to say something and you need to listen.” Duke dropped her hands and took a step back to give himself some room for pacing.

He moved back and forth only a couple paces at a time, his outward frustration building. “From the moment you showed up at the shelter, it did something to me. I’ve been in denial for so long maybe I didn’t recognize it at first.” He stopped and stared hard at her. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She shook her head.

“No, of course not.” He let out a groan and started pacing again. “I held back because I didn’t—couldn’t—believe you would share the same feelings. Or maybe I didn’t feel like I deserved your attention.” His hands dropped listlessly at his sides and he faced her once more. “I can’t do it anymore.”

Sophie blinked. She’d missing something. Maybe this wasn’t about him wanting to start a relationship at all. Maybe he couldn’t stand to be around her any longer and this was his way of telling her they should avoid one another.

An unexpected ache wrapped its talons around her heart and squeezed hard. As hard as she’d tried pushing him away, the disappointment that came with this realization turned everything on its side. She opened her mouth to tell him she understood and she would leave him alone, but he cut her off again.

Duke swooped closer to her, placing his large hand to the side of her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I can’t deny my feelings anymore. I can’t go on living day-to-day wondering where we could be if that first date had gone differently.”

Her breath caught in her throat, lodging there like Winnie the Pooh stuck in that tree. Sophie couldn’t drag her eyes from Duke even if she wanted to.

“It’s against everything I thought I wanted.” His words broke the spell and she let out a huff as she tore away from him.

“I’m not interested in being that person, Duke.” Her heart ached as she strode toward the house with quick, sure steps. “It’s beyond me why anyone would want to be with someone who despises them so much.” And she would know. How hard had she fought these quiet feelings from bubbling to the surface? But for her, everything had changed.

They’d reached the side of the house when his hand shot out and snatched her wrist, spinning her to face him.

“Will you just let mesay what's on my mind?” he ground out, his eyes flashing with desperation and a frustrated whisper.

Duke dropped her hand and she held her breath. This wasn’t what she had been expecting when she came to dinner tonight. Sophie peered at him in the moonlight, watching, waiting for him to say his peace. At this point she didn’t think he could say much of anything that would convince her he didn’t despise her. There were too many instances where he’d shut her out.

He took in a deep breath then released it. His eyes found hers once more. “I need you to believe me when I say I care about you.”

She opened her mouth to argue out of habit but he placed both hands above her shoulders on either side of her head, snuffing out that idea immediately.

“Do you know how hard it’s been for me to keep my distance from you? It’s been utter torture—these thoughts and feelings wreaking havoc when I know you don’t feel the same.”

Sophie froze at that statement. He thought she hated him.

Well, hadn’t she? At least a little bit?

---